I'd be very interested in seeing a chemists input. My understanding is that Portland is only minerals from the earth. It doesn't have any chemicals in it. It's concrete and mortar etc... that start getting fancy on top of cement with chemicals.

I wonder if your friend just figured out to mix buffer into the rock so that it looks like it doesn't need curing and stuff grows
Like crazy on it because it is an alkalinity generator so if you can maintain the other compounds/elements in balance with it stuff will naturally be attracted to the source?

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Portland is safest because of what you stated. However, it MUST kure to leach out the excess alk or it is dangerous to your tank. And you MUST make sure it is finished leaching so that means you need patience... Lol like everything we do in this hobby requires and for what it's worth buffers only mask it. They won't simply soak into your rock and neutralize the alkalinity. And even if it could I don't know that I would trust that because then it could degrade the strength of the rock. And I have seen some people's rock just crumble in their hands or in the tank. This time of year is a good time of year anyway for curing. It only takes 2 to 3 weeks -at most 4 if done outside.

I've read where people call it baking the rock. A few people swear by putting it in a plastic bag, misting it, tieing the bag and sitting it in the sun for 28 days. Misting every few days. Then putting it in water another month or so. I think that might be overkill.

I molded mine in wet (not drenched) sand, let it sit untouched for 24-36 hours depending on how big the piece is. Then let rinse it in a 5g bucket to dissolve the salt (if any was used) then let it sit out at room temperature for 3-4 days. After which I added to a 55g tank with a large filter on it. So far I've had none crumble or break. But after more reading I was worried that I was doing it wrong.

Ceramic that hasn't been in a kiln? All the ceramic plugs I have seen are pretty tough to just break with my fingers specially in this thickness and after broken definitely don't have the drywall powdery consistency....its not about being lazy more just curious, and you can't tell me you wouldn't want a DIY substance that didn't need curing it would be awesome for the DIY'er

Ceramic that hasn't been in a kiln? All the ceramic plugs I have seen are pretty tough to just break with my fingers specially in this thickness and after broken definitely don't have the drywall powdery consistency....its not about being lazy more just curious, and you can't tell me you wouldn't want a DIY substance that didn't need curing it would be awesome for the DIY'er

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I agree. However i have ordered some "ceramic" plugs in the past through Amazon and once on eBay that were exactly as described. I returned them. I believe that they were not fired ( I used to work with ceramics years ago as a minor hobby).

I agree. However i have ordered some "ceramic" plugs in the past through Amazon and once on eBay that were exactly as described. I returned them. I believe that they were not fired ( I used to work with ceramics years ago as a minor hobby).

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Interesting! Wonder if they do some type of ceramic/cement mix and since they are using less cement justify not curing it in their large systems...

Interesting! Wonder if they do some type of ceramic/cement mix and since they are using less cement justify not curing it in their large systems...

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It is possible. Though one shouldn't attempt to "kure" anything in a live system. Not unless you are 100% without doubt that it won't leach anything that could either leach something harmful or cause your parameters to become off balance. Even after I kure my DIY rock I put it in a can and make it live there before adding it to my tank. This is called "cooking". It is much safer this way not to mention beneficial. Because this way it can't upset your DTs parameters upon entry.